MovieChat Forums > Outland (1981) Discussion > Firing Guns in Outer Space

Firing Guns in Outer Space

posted 12 years ago by global_global
15 replies | jump to latest

At the end, we find out Ballard is the man on the inside (the black guy that was promoted after the former police captain was killed). He goes out in a space suit to get O'Niel, who's also outside in a space suit taking care of the two guys who came in on the ship.

Now, Ballard fires his shotgun several times at O'Niel. First, wouldn't that be pretty difficult to do while wearing a space suit? More importantly, can a gun even be fired in space, and if yes, can it be fired the same way it is on earth (or a similar atmosphere)?

Wouldn't it either not shoot, or the bullet wouldn't travel the way it does normally?

I don't know the answer, asking in all seriousness.

In the film, Ballard is able to shoot his gun despite wearing the bulky space suit, and the bullets travel at the same velocity and same direction they would as on earth.

[–] pfnuesel 12 years ago

I don't know the answers either, but still chip in my two cents.

Firing a normal shotgun would probably be difficult with the bulky space suits, but then they might have made a shotgun for people wearing exactly those bulky space suits.

I don't see a reason why the shotgun would not work without the atmospheric pressure. In fact, the bullet would be less decelerated by the sparse atmosphere on Io and their trajectory would be less bent due to smaller gravitational effects. All in all, I'd say it would be pretty much the same as on Earth.

[–] athomas1 12 years ago

Yes, guns can be fired in space. The Russians even had one mounted on an early Soyuz space station in case American astronauts tried to attack them.

[–] nizzemancer-265-952005 12 years ago

There's no oxygen...No oxygen means no ignition of the gun-powder which means no expansion of gasses meaning no projectile fired.

The russian gun you speak of was either for use inside the stations atmosphere or it was using special ammunition.

[–] 12 years ago

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[–] graham-167 9 years ago

There's no oxygen...No oxygen means no ignition of the gun-powder which means no expansion of gasses meaning no projectile fired.

Yes, there is. Cordite has Oxygen built in as part of the chemical itself. It doesn't need outside Oxygen to burn. Guns would fire in a vacuum just fine.

Think about it - even on Earth, the cordite in a bullet is sealed inside a brass casing, right? And that's inside a barrel that is also sealed to the air, except at the front. So Oxygen from the air has no way to get to the cordite even on Earth. If bullets needed outside Oxygen, the casings and barrels would have to have little vent holes drilled in the sides.

If you doubt it, here's a video of a perfectly normal gun being fired inside a Vacuum chamber with no air in it :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUdkIn7C9fA

--
Christianity : A god who loves you so much that he'll set fire to you if you don't love him back

[–] a7yvm109gf5d1 9 years ago

... do you really think firearms depend on atmospheric oxygen? Have you never looked at shells? They're sealed... How would air even get in there?

There's no oxygen all right, in your brain.

[–] nizzemancer-265-952005 12 years ago

except the ammo wouldn't ignite

[–] ta2me92704 12 years ago

Except you're wrong. Primers and gunpowder are chemical reactions, not dependent on the presence of oxygen.

My ignore list is much too long for a sig line.

[–] nizzemancer-265-952005 12 years ago

No, they're chemical compunds, and they still need oxygen...

[–] ta2me92704 12 years ago

No, you're still wrong. They contain their own oxygen in the primer compounds and powder.

http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/question.php?number=471

https://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&safe=off&tbo=d &spell=1&q=will+guns+fire+in+space&sa=X&ei=JGOkUKb9Naa 7igK_lYBw&ved=0CDAQvwUoAA&biw=1024&bih=513"]http://ww w.lifeslittlemysteries.com/2167-gun-shoot-space.html

https://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&safe=off&; amp;tbo=d&spell=1&q=will+guns+fire+in+space&sa=X&ei=JG OkUKb9Naa7igK_lYBw&ved=0CDAQvwUoAA&biw=1024&bih=513

My ignore list is much too long for a sig line.

[–] zap644 11 years ago

Thank you. I was going to ask another poster for a citation, but you've provided them. It makes sense and I'm glad they used shotguns instead of going for some cheap standby like laser guns.

Someday there may be laser guns that one can carry as easily as a shotgun, but lasers require a lot of power especially if you're going to use them for more than just blinding your target.

[–] palmercin 12 years ago

The title of this thread. It is a spoiler unto itself. To a degree. You nerds and your spoiler warning bs for old films. Not like this is current and in the cinemas.

http://lscottpalmer.blogspot.com/

[–] JSouth1 11 years ago

And that is something of an enigma. One of the earliest proposed uses for lasers--LONG before the "information age" or medical uses for them--was as a weapon, a "death ray". They are all over the old sci-fi movies, someone shoots one at someone or something--and they glows red or blue and then vanish. NOT reality. In order to do that.....you would need a LOT of power from the laser--which as others stated--is NOT possible. Perhaps with a laser driven chemically or such, like a COIL laser--this might be possible--but STILL is not (yet) reality.

Of course--Lasers are one of the BIGGEST, if not biggest examples--of a "sword being turned into a plowshare" . WHile not really useful as a weapon, at least in compact, portable size--they are useful for SO many other things!! SO many fields use a laser in them--they are commonplace and not really "sci-fi" anymore". Most people even have several in their homes--whether they know it or not...Like the computer, once somewhat sci-fi and esoteric---Lasers are everywhere, cheap, used for a lot of things and simple.

JUst NOT as a weapon.

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] James-169 8 years ago

I haven't seen the film in many years, but as to the shotguns firing in space thing: They should still fire, but if you weren't strapped down I would think it would send the guy pulling the trigger in the opposite direction.